Spasim
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Spasim (abbreviation of 'space simulation') was a 32-player 3D networked game by Jim Bowery involving 4 planetary systems with up to 8 players per planetary system, released in March 1974. Jim Bowery claims that it is the very first first-person shooter and has offered reward of US $500 to anyone who could document an example of a multi-player 3D virtual reality game prior to Spasim.[1] In Spasim the players flew around in space and to each other they appeared as wire-frame space ships. Their positions were updated about every second.
The game was played on the PLATO network. Other games on the PLATO network included airace by Silas Warner that evolved into airfight (by Brand Fortner), and then spawned US Army's Panzer tank simulator which spawned Panther by John Edo Haefeli at NW University. Atari, Inc had a PLATO account and Panther is said to be the origin of Battlezone while airfight led up to Sublogic's Microsoft Flight Simulator.
[edit] External references
SPASIM, an informative page
